Press ReleasesThursday, June 3, 2021 at 12:00 AM

JRTC at LaVilla is Certified LEED Gold Facility

JACKSONVILLE, FL.  June 3, 2021 – The U.S. Green Building Council certified the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center at LaVilla (JRTC) as a LEED Gold facility, a first for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA).

The U.S. Green Building Council uses LEED, which stands for leadership in energy and environmental design, as a building rating system that provides a framework for environmentally-friendly and energy efficient building standards.

The JRTC at LaVilla received 63 out of 65 eligible credits for the “Build Design and Construction” category, which is used for new constructions or major renovations of existing spaces. LEED Gold certification requires between 60-79 credits. The JRTC at LaVilla is the second LEED certified facility built by the JTA.  The Intercity Bus Terminal is a LEED Silver certified building.

“This is an incredible honor for our staff and for the LaVilla neighborhood,” said JTA Chief Executive Officer Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr. “Sustainability was a major focus as we advanced designs and construction of the JRTC at LaVilla, and thanks to our construction partners and the experts here at the JTA, we have built an environmentally-friendly and sustainable multimodal transportation hub that will serve generations to come.”

The JRTC at LaVilla opened May 4, 2020, as a 67,000-square-foot multimodal transportation hub, and home to the JTA’s administrative headquarters. The facility serves the JTA’s fixed-bus routes, the First Coast Flyer Bus Rapid Transit network, the Skyway, paratransit, and shared mobility services. The JRTC at LaVilla connects to the Intercity Bus Terminal which provides service from Greyhound, Red Coach and Megabus. The facilities are connected by a pedestrian bridge.

One of the primary features that makes the JRTC sustainable is its iconic, crescent-shaped structure and glass curtain wall, which allows natural daylighting, reducing the need for lighting, and provides insulation to allow for more efficient use of HVAC systems. Along with traditional sustainability features including LED lighting, water efficient fixtures and landscaping, among others, the JRTC was able to achieve innovation credits for enhanced transit accessibility, locally sourced and recycled materials, and enhanced sustainability in design and construction practices.

Other sustainable design elements of the JRTC at LaVilla include:

• LED lighting complete with occupancy sensors, dimming and daylight harvesting.
• Energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
• A heat reflective “cool” roof.
• Recycling collection receptacles.
• Low-Impact Design (LID) features including bio-swales, rain gardens, and bio-retention areas to pretreat surface water runoff from the site and reduce water used for irrigation by 50%. The central plaza located west of Johnson Street includes specialized paving, grassed seating areas, and a bio-retention network which runs throughout the facility. The planting in the bio-retention beds consists of hardy plant species that can withstand the extreme conditions within the beds, with limited irrigation needs.
• The building’s curtain wall was comprised of two-colored spandrel glass panels designed to high performance air, water, structural and thermal standards, and allowing natural daylight to enter the building reducing the amount of lighting and associated electricity required to operate the facility.
• Low-flow toilets and sink fixtures were installed, along with water efficient landscaping to reduce the building’s potable water usage.
• An Indoor Air Quality Management Plan was implemented during construction of the building and prior to occupancy to ensure the safety of construction crews and to protect onsite and installed materials from moisture damage.
• To ensure responsible forest management, more than 50% of the new wood-based products and materials utilized in the construction of the JRTC were certified with the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) principles and criteria.
• More than 75% of demolition debris were recycled and/or salvaged during the construction of the project.
• The project included more than 30% recycled product and more than 30% of the materials used for the project were sourced within 500 miles of the project site.
• A touchscreen kiosk is also included in the customer waiting area to educate the public on many of the facility’s sustainable features and Authority-wide achievements related to sustainability.